Editing Future (section)

===Science fiction===
{{Main|Science fiction|Near future in science fiction|Far future in science fiction}}

[[File:Sortie de l'opéra en l'an 2000-2.jpg|thumb|upright|Print (c. 1902) by [[Albert Robida]] showing a futuristic view of air travel over Paris in the year 2000 as people leave the opera.<ref>{{cite book |chapter= Science Fiction: Its Nature, Faults and Virtues |title= The Science Fiction Novel: Imagination and Social Criticism |publisher= Advent Publishers |last1= Heinlein |first1= Robert A. |first2=Cyril |last2=Kornbluth |first3=Alfred |last3=Bester |first4=Robert |last4=Bloch |year= 1959 |location= University of Chicago}}</ref>]]

More generally, one can regard science fiction as a broad genre of [[fiction]] that often involves speculations based on current or future [[science]] or [[technology]]. Science fiction is found in books, art, television, films, games, theater, and other media. Science fiction differs from [[Fantasy literature|fantasy]] in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically established or scientifically postulated laws of nature (though ''some'' elements in a story might still be pure imaginative speculation). Settings may include the future, or alternative time-lines, and stories may depict new or speculative scientific principles (such as [[time travel]] or [[psionics]]), or new technology (such as [[nanotechnology]], [[faster-than-light]] travel or [[robot]]s). Exploring the consequences of such differences is the traditional purpose of science fiction, making it a "literature of ideas".<ref>
{{cite web
 | author = Marg Gilks, Paula Fleming and Moira Allen
 | title = Science Fiction: The Literature of Ideas
 | publisher =WritingWorld.com
 | year =2003
 | url = http://www.writing-world.com/sf/sf.shtml
}}
</ref>

Some [[science fiction]] authors construct a postulated [[history]] of the future called a "[[future history]]" that provides a common background for their fiction. Sometimes authors publish a [[Chronology|timeline]] of events in their history, while other times the reader can reconstruct the order of the stories from information in the books. Some published works constitute "future history" in a more literal sense—i.e., stories or whole books written in the style of a history book but describing events in the future. Examples include [[H.G. Wells]]' ''[[The Shape of Things to Come]]'' (1933)—written in the form of a history book published in the year 2106 and in the manner of a real history book with numerous footnotes and references to the works of (mostly fictitious) prominent historians of the 20th and 21st centuries.